WASHINGTON – WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a biased legal system as “reckless” and “dangerous” — breaking his longtime silence on the presumptive Republican nominee’s criminal problems while Trump’s nearly three dozen criminal convictions have injected a new element of uncertainty into a volatile presidential campaign.
Biden’s sobering denunciation of his predecessor and his defense of the US legal system – delivered in just under two minutes from the White House – came after campaign aides made clear they would continue to focus on issues such as democracy, the right to abortion and other freedoms that have formed the basis of the president’s re-election bid.
He noted that the dozen jurors who found Trump guilty on all 34 charges stemming from a hush-money case were selected “the same way every jury in America has been selected” and that the former president had “every opportunity to defend”. While underlining Trump’s right to appeal, Biden emphasized that “the American principle that no one is above the law has been reaffirmed.”
“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for someone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict. Our judicial system has lasted nearly 250 years and is literally the cornerstone of America,” Biden said Friday, adding of the U.S. legal system: “We must never allow anyone to tear it down.”
It was a significant change in rhetoric from Biden, who for a long time avoided Trump’s legal drama to avoid spreading accusations that the lawsuits were politically motivated. But as the New York proceedings dragged on, Biden campaign aides delved deeper into Trump’s legal drama — releasing innuendo-laden statements about the trial, taunting Trump with the phrase “free Wednesdays” ( the trial’s scheduled day off) and unexpectedly appearing this week at the Manhattan trial with actor Robert De Niro in a tactic that has received mixed reviews even from some Democrats.
Biden campaign officials, while not yet telegraphing a major strategic shift to focus directly on Trump’s beliefs, said the verdict fits their broader narrative about Trump: that he doesn’t care about ordinary Americans. and that, for Trump, everything revolves around himself.
Other Democrats said Trump’s convictions — stemming from a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a secret payment to an adult film star — reinforced other arguments Biden and the party were making against the presumptive Republican nominee.
“I believe Trump’s conviction for crimes related to election interference fits very well with the story the president wants to tell about how Trump is a danger to democracy,” said Dan Pfeiffer, who served as communications director in the Obama White House .
Biden campaign officials have acknowledged that Trump is a widely known entity and that many of the public’s opinions about him are established. But they said the convictions could be a significant moment — like Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 or his role in encouraging the Capitol rioters on Jan. 6, 2021 — that would reach a wider audience. The convictions could also accelerate what Biden’s campaign has struggled to crystallize among voters: the chaos that constantly surrounds Trump, but which has been largely forgotten by the public.
The campaign hopes the convictions can influence two groups of voters in particular, according to a Biden campaign official. One of them includes Republicans who disdain Trump and likely supported someone like former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the primary but would still have a hard time voting for a Democrat. The idea is that the convictions would bring into focus why they oppose Trump in the first place, the official said.
The other group are voters who have not paid attention to the campaign so far, but who could be reminded of Trump’s responsibilities through the convictions. The employee was granted anonymity to discuss the campaign’s internal thinking.
But few professed to know what the political impact of Trump’s beliefs would be – including Biden himself.
“I have no idea,” the president said Friday when asked whether conviction would help his would-be opponent.
Biden’s campaign fired off several fundraising emails after the verdict was released on Thursday, including one signed by the president himself that implored supporters: “The stakes have never been higher – democracy, rights and freedoms personal lives and the future of our economy are all at stake.” The campaign declined Friday to disclose how much those missives raised.
The financial appeals said that, despite the verdict, Trump’s defeat had to be done electorally and not anywhere else. That message was echoed in talking points the Biden campaign sent to surrogates on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. He emphasized: “Convicted criminal or not, Trump will be the Republican candidate for president.”
The talking points continued: “Here’s the choice: Joe Biden is fighting for our freedom and democracy, reducing costs for families, creating more opportunities for everyone. Donald Trump grows more unhinged and dangerous every day as he continues his campaign of revenge and retribution – rushing to serve himself without caring who he hurts in the process.”
“The only way to defeat Trump is at the polls, and the campaign is going to have to continue to hammer that home to voters who don’t want Trump to be president again,” said Kate Berner, the former principal deputy White House communications director, who also worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign. “This is another negative point that Trump must overcome, but the issues that matter most to voters are the ones that impact their lives, not Trump’s.
Others were still pressuring the Biden campaign to more aggressively take advantage of Trump’s criminal record.
“I think they need to lean on each other here,” said Rahna Epting, executive director of the liberal advocacy group MoveOn. “The American people need to understand that a Republican candidate running for president is a convicted felon. I think it’s perfectly fair game and it’s important to voters.”
Neither development changed Trump’s defiant tone as he tried to galvanize supporters before November. Moments after Biden spoke, Trump sent a fundraising email declaring in all caps: “I was just convicted in a fraudulent trial. I am a political prisoner!”
As Biden left the podium after his remarks, a reporter shouted if he had any reaction to Trump calling himself a political prisoner and directly blaming the president. Biden stopped and smiled but did not respond. Previously, Biden had stressed that the Manhattan trial was a “state case, not a federal one,” contradicting Trump’s baseless claims that Biden himself was somehow behind the New York convictions.
Likewise, he did not respond when another reporter asked if he thought Trump should appear on the November ballot.
___
Weissert reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
